An Introduction to SAP BusinessObjects Cloud: Taking the First Steps (Part 2)

Learn how to use SAP BusinessObjects Cloud (formerly SAP Cloud for Analytics) to leverage your own corporate information, and create a variety of different visualizations of your data. Get step-by-step instructions for how to upload information, fine-tune the generated model, and then use the information as part of a visual story, which you can then share with other users.

Learning Objectives

In this article, you will learn how to:

Upload information into SAP BusinessObjects Cloud

Fine-tune the generated data model

Create a visual story and then share the visualization with others

Key Concept

SAP BusinessObjects Cloud’s focus is on providing business users with an environment that allows them to create their own visualizations and visual stories, and share them with colleagues and team members, without having to rely on the IT department.

In my first article in this series, “An Introduction to SAP BusinessObjects Cloud (Part 1),” I provided a review on the data-connectivity options offered by SAP BusinessObjects Cloud (formerly SAP Cloud for Analytics) as well as its most important capabilities, such as data exploration, data visualizations, stories, and the ability to share and collaborate with team members. In this second article about SAP BusinessObjects Cloud, I show how you can quickly set up a new data model based on existing information, and then use the information to create a new visualization and share that with your colleagues.

First, I cover the steps for uploading data and generating a model. Then I show how you can make changes to and enhance the generated data model (in this example, how to add hierarchies). Finally, I explain how to create a visual story and share it with other team members or colleagues.

How to Upload Data and Generate a Data Model

In this example, I first show you how to upload the data that you would like to use, and then how to fine-tune the generated model that was created based on your own data. SAP BusinessObjects Cloud allows you to manually create a new data model from scratch, or you can have SAP BusinessObjects Cloud generate a model based on data that you provide. If you use the second option (generating the model based on the data), some basic information—such as the data type—becomes part of the generated model. In this example, I automatically generate a basic model based on actual data, and then fine-tune the generated model.

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Ingo Hilgefort

Ingo Hilgefort started his career in 1999 with Seagate Software/Crystal Decisions as a trainer and consultant. He moved to Walldorf for Crystal Decisions at the end of 2000, and worked with the SAP NetWeaver BW development team integrating Crystal Reports with SAP NetWeaver BW. He then relocated to Vancouver in 2004, and worked as a product manager/program manager (in engineering) on the integration of BusinessObjects products with SAP products. Ingo's focus is now on the integration of the SAP BusinessObjects BI suite with SAP landscapes, such as SAP BW and SAP BW on SAP HANA, focusing on end-to-end integration scenarios. In addition to his experience as a product manager and in his engineering roles, Ingo has been involved in architecting and delivering deployments of SAP BusinessObjects software in combination with SAP software for a number of global customers, and has been recognized by the SAP Community as an SAP Mentor for SAP BusinessObjects- and SAP integration-related topics. Currently, Ingo is the Vice President of Product Management and Product Strategy at Visual BI Solutions, working on extensions to SAP’s product offering such as SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio and SAP Lumira. You may follow him on Twitter at @ihilgefort.

Ingo will be presenting at the upcoming SAPinsider BI & HANA 2018 conference February 26-March 1, 2018, in Las Vegas. For information on the event, click here.